Host Families needed for 40 students from Japan March 6 - 24

Host families are urgently needed to host 40 students from Japan’s Hiroshima Junior High School who will be visiting Coaldale from March 16th till 24th. Japanese exchange students hope several families will open their homes to a cultural sharing experience for 13 and 15-year-old Japanese boys and girls attending Kate Andrews High School.

MLI Homestay is hoping more Coaldale and Lethbridge families will open their doors to these Japanese student visitors.

MLI has been bringing Japanese students to Coaldale and Lethbridge and other Alberta municipalities as a cultural and language experience for years.

“It is a great way to share Canadian and Japanese culture”. Rafael Mulingtapang, MLI Homestay Coordinator, explains. “The host families are like Canadian ambassadors showing the students the Canadian way of life.”

An honorarium of $35 per student per night is paid to the home stay host family. However, Rafael hopes potential hosts look at it more as an opportunity to meet and share friendships which live far beyond the end of the visit.

“It can be a real bonding experience … They just enjoy being in a Canadian family and experiencing how we live … They go away from it with a better understanding of Canadians,” he said. “It is a great way to share Canadian culture, our open hearts and [share] our generosity. Being a host father myself is for me and my family a way to be a visitor in my own town, creating lifelong relationships. My son has host siblings all around the word.”

Anyone interested in hosting students can contact Rafael Mulingtapang at lethbridge@mlihomestay.com or call at 403-795-1995.